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AWC: Ambient Air memo focuses on likely exposure scenarios

WASHINGTON – American Wood Council (AWC) President & CEO Robert Glowinski issued the following statement regarding the Administration’s draft policy memo clarifying what is excluded from “ambient air” for air quality modeling purposes. The memo from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) adopts a more probabilistic approach for where impacts of new projects must be measured for evaluation.

“EPA’s previous ambient air modeling guidelines have led to evaluations of unrealistic situations. For example, our industry has had to evaluate potential impacts anywhere a person could theoretically access, including a person that gained manufacturing site access by illegal trespass.

“Today’s memo highlights an Administration pushing for policies to be based on best available technical information that considers “measures” that deter public access, rather than on improbable scenarios. AWC thanks the Agency for updating its ambient air modeling policies and further efforts to adopt realistic assumptions and scenarios.”